Steering Committee

Dr. Viola Acoff

Dr. Viola L. Acoff received her B.S., M.S. and PhD degrees in materials engineering from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). She began working at The University of Alabama (UA) in 1994 as an assistant professor of Metallurgical and Materials Engineering and ascended up the ranks to professor in 2004. Dr. Acoff has served as Head of the Department of Chemical & Biological Engineering and as Head of the Department of Metallurgical & Materials Engineering. Currently, Dr. Acoff is the Associate Dean for Undergraduate and Graduate Programs in UA’s College of Engineering. Dr. Acoff has been awarded more than $7 million in research grants, including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award. She has published over 80 peer reviewed papers and has presented her work all over the world. Since 1996 she has served as UA’s Director of the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program. For her work in increasing diversity and inclusion in STEM fields, Dr. Acoff was named the inaugural recipient of the Ellen Swallow Richards Diversity Award at a ceremony that was held at the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C. in 2014.

Dr. Monica Anderson

Dr. Monica Anderson, UA associate professor of computer science, is co-director of the Distributed Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, designed to increase the number of women and underrepresented groups entering graduate studies in the fields of computer science and engineering. This program matches undergraduate women and underrepresented groups with a faculty mentor for a summer research experience at the faculty member’s home institution. It provides students who are considering graduate school with a close view of what it is like and also increases their competitiveness as an applicant for graduate admissions and fellowships. Anderson, whose research interests include robotics, is a co-principal investigator for the Institute for African American Mentoring in Computing Sciences, or iAAMCS. It aims to increase the number of African-Americans receiving doctoral degrees in computing sciences, promote and engage students in teaching and training opportunities, and to add more diverse researchers into the advanced technology workforce.

Dr. Carolyn Cassady

Carolyn J. Cassady is a Professor of Chemistry at The University of Alabama. She is an analytical chemist with research interests in biological mass spectrometry and funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. She obtained a BA in Chemistry from Pfeiffer College (Misenheimer, NC) and a PhD in Chemistry from Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN). After working several years at ARCO Chemical Company (Newtown Square, PA) and Midwest Research Institute (Kansas City, MO), she was a post-doctoral associate at the Naval Research Laboratory (Washington, DC) and a faculty member of Miami University (Oxford, OH). Dr. Cassady came to UA in 2000. She is founder and advisor of the Tuscaloosa-UA Affiliate Group of the Association for Women in Science.

Patrice Crawford

Patrice Crawford graduated from The University of Alabama in Spring 2015. Soon, she was hired by the Department of Biological Sciences at the University as a research technician in microbiology. She majored in Biology and studied Mandarin Chinese for her minor. During her undergraduate career at the University, she was involved with NSBE, the International Student Association, College First, and she gained diverse research experience from 2 different biology laboratories. In Fall 2013, with 13 sisters, she founded the University of Alabama Colony of Alpha Omega Epsilon Professional and Social Sorority for women in Engineering and Technical Science majors. From serving on the first Executive Board to present, she still works very closely with the sorority to encourage professional development while fostering a sense of community.

Dr. Joan Barth

Joan Barth is a Senior Research Scientist at The University of Alabama. She is the recipient of two Gender in Science and Engineering awards from NSF and has recently published on issues of social support, occupation stereotypes, and life goals in Sex Roles, Journal of Youth and Adolescence, and the Journal of Vocational Behavior. Her interests focus on gender roles, occupation stereotypes, and social support in middle school through college students. Dr. Barth received her doctoral degree in developmental psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Dr. David Cordes

Dr. David Cordes is a professor of computer science who joined the University of Alabama in 1988. He has served as chair of the department of computer science since 1997 and director of the freshman engineering program since 2007. Dr. Cordes has been active in educational activities for a number of years, including work with the NSF engineering education coalitions program (national leadership team for the Foundation Coalition) and undergraduate accreditation. He has served on ABET’s Computing Accreditation Commission since 2006 and was national chair for the Computing Accreditation Commission of ABET in 2013-2014.

Dr. Robert Findlay

Dr. Robert H. Findlay is the Bishop Professor of Biology at The University of Alabama. Prior to joining UA in 2003, he was tenured faculty in the Department of Microbiology at Miami University. He received his B.S. in Biology (ecology and evolution specialty) from the University of Connecticut at Storrs and his Masters and Ph.D. in microbial ecology from Florida State University. He has authored over 70 scientific publications, been awarded over $7 million in extramural research funding, and currently serves on the Ecosystems proposal review panel for the National Science Foundation. As Graduate Program Director for the Department of Biological Sciences he has worked to increase diversity and inclusion within the Department’s graduate program via its participation in the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Program and as PI (with Dr. Sobecky as Co-PI) Department of Education GAANN award. He is currently funded by National Science Foundation to study to role of light as a stimulator of ecosystem-level detrital processing by microbial heterotrophs.

Dr. Jeff Gray

Dr. Jeff Gray, professor of computer science, is a national leader in computer science education and is a member of Code.org’s Education Advisory Council. With several National Science Foundation grants, Gray has worked with the College Board and Google to craft a new Advanced Placement computer science course. He also trains high-school teachers to integrate computer science into technology courses and to teach the upcoming new AP computer science course. His efforts have helped expand computer science education in Alabama schools, including rolling out the new AP course to 50 high schools in Alabama where 46 percent of the students are female and/or from underrepresented groups. Gray also hosts an annual robotics competition for middle and high-school students and summer computer camps for similarly aged students.

Dr. Rosianna Gray

Dr. Rosianna Gray holds a a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from The University of Alabama. Dr. Gray joined the Department of Biology at The University of Alabama in the fall of 2013. Her research interests include bacterial genetics, gene regulation, and gene cloning. As a faculty member, she teaches courses in Biology and Microbiology. She currently serves as the Director of Community Education in the Division of Community Affairs for The Center of Community-Based Partnerships where she directs programs such as The Parent Teacher Leadership Academy (PTLA), The STEM (Science Technology Engineering and Math) Entrepreneurship Academy (SEA) and Swim to The Top. These, among other programs in her area, are targeted towards K-12 students in various school districts within the Tuscaloosa, Alabaster and the Black Belt school districts.

Dr. John Higginbotham

John C. Higginbotham PhD, MPH, is an Associate Vice President for Research at The University of Alabama. He is also Professor and Chair of the Department of Community and Rural Medicine and Associate Dean for Research and Health Policy in the College of Community Health Sciences, as well as the Director of the Institute for Rural Health Research. Dr. Higginbotham is an epidemiologist. For more than 30 years, he has taught epidemiology, statistics, evaluation, and research design to both medical and non-medical graduate students. Dr. Higginbotham’s most recent presentations and publications have focused on racial and ethnic disparities related to cancer and other health issues that have particular impact on rural areas. He has been principal investigator or co-investigator in a number of research projects including ones related to predictions of vaccinations among older African-Americans, the psychosocial impact of cancer in rural/urban women, barriers to diabetes care, and reducing obesity in rural Alabama. Dr. Higginbotham holds a bachelor’s degree from The University of Alabama, a Master of Public Health from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and a doctorate from the University of Texas Medical Branch.

Dr. Seongsin Margaret Kim

Dr. Margaret Kim obtained her Ph.D. from Northwestern University in 1999. She is Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of Alabama. Prior to joining UA, Dr. Kim was a Research Associate at Stanford University after working at both Samsung (Korea) and Agilent Technologies, CA. Dr. Kim’s research interests include Terahertz photonics and metamaterials. Her work explores light interaction with matters, including THz biomedical imaging for the early detection of cancer, metamaterials devices for sensing, slowing light, novel detectors, and THz spectroscopy for fundamental physics and materials science, including 2D materials. Dr. Kim has over 140 peer-reviewed publications including 64 journal articles, 6 book chapters. She also holds two US patents. She is a recipient of NSF CAREER award (2010), Meritorious Research Award (2010), and the HKN Outstanding instructor award (2014). In 2011, Dr. Kim was invited to White House to represent “new work place flexibility policies to support America’s scientists and their families.”

Dr. Cori Perdue

Cori Perdue is the Director of Graduate School Programs at The University of Alabama. Perdue earned a bachelor’s degree in English at The University of California, Berkeley, and a master’s and doctoral degree in English from The University of Alabama. Perdue is the Director of the Women in STEM Experience (WiSE) program at The University of Alabama: wise.ua.edu. In 2014 Perdue was the recipient of the Penny Allan Award for her outstanding service to students. She received the 2014 American Council on Education Women’s Leadership Award for her creation and implementation of UA’s Graduate Parent Support Program. In addition to directing the WiSE program, Perdue currently enjoys directing multiple other programs such as the Graduate Parent Support program (GPS), the Tide Together mentoring program, Sitters for Service, Graduate Ambassadors, Graduate Orientation and Welcome (GROW), Dissertation Writing Retreats, and the Three Minute Thesis Competition (3MT).

Dr. Patricia Sobecky

Dr. Patricia Sobecky is the Associate Provost for Academic Affairs at The University of Alabama (UA) and leads the UA STEM Forward Initiative. Prior to joining UA in 2009 to serve as chair in the Department of Biological Sciences, she was tenured faculty in the School of Biology at The Georgia Institute of Technology. She is a first generation college student who grew up in western Pennsylvania. She received her B.S. in Biology from the University of Pittsburgh at Johnstown and her Ph.D. in microbiology from the University of Georgia. She has authored over 60 scientific publications, been awarded more than $8 million in extramural research funding, served as chief scientist for oceanographic cruises in the Gulf of Mexico, and is an editor for the international journal FEMS Microbiology Ecology. She is currently funded by The Gulf of Mexico Research Initiative to assess impact, recovery, and restoration efforts following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the northern Gulf of Mexico.

Tommie Syx

Tommie Syx is Program Specialist for the Culverhouse College of Commerce, Alabama Entrepreneurship Institute. She currently represents The University of Alabama at the Edge Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation focused on early stage business development and entrepreneurship education initiatives. Her previous work includes coordinating the K-12 AlabamaREAL Project, the Capstone Entrepreneurship Camp, the STEM Entrepreneurship Academy and the Center for Green Technology’s Entrepreneurship Internship Project. Syx received her B.S. and M.S. from The University of Alabama and holds a graduate certificate in Conflict Management, Mediation and Negotiation. She serves on the Alabama State Department of Education’s Commerce and Information Technology Advisory Board and the Alabama Communities of Excellence Council. Syx is a member of the Global Consortium for Entrepreneurship Centers and Phi Kappa Phi.